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Show lO DESl'O'fiS!\1 democracies, which makes up the American Union; that strange compound of liberty and despotism, which pervades tile laws of so many of the States, and lurks demurely, in the federal constitution; such hostile and repulsive clements having been so long quietly in contact without producing an explosion, it has thence been argued, and believed, that they might always remain so. But those who reason thus, have not well considered the history of the American States, nor the kind of progress which Democracy has hitherto made. The dispute which severed the colonies from Great Britain, gave rise to constitutions in the northern States of the confederacy, which acknowledged to a greater or less degree, the leading principles of liberty and equality; principles which before hardly had an existence, except in the speculations of a few political theorists. In no part of the country, were the fundamental theorems of this modern system of policy, more generally received or more warmly maintained, than in the New England States, where the equal distribution of property seemed to open the way for the easy introduction of a purely democratical system. But property is not the only source of political power. From the earliest settlement of those States, the Clergy had always exercised a predominant influence. They formed a distinct order, acting together with decision and promptitude, and monopoli2ing all the learning and no small share of the active talent of the community. 'J'he mass of the people, 1 hough all could read,-an inestimable accomplishment, and under fa· vorable eircumstances, capable in itself of becoming the foundation of the most liberal knowledge,-were yet extremely ignorant; for they had no book but thr bible, and for the most part they relied upon their religious teachers with a submissive and superstitious dependance, for such expositions of its contents as they saw fit to give. In this state of the case, the power which the clergy exercised was very great. It was however for the most part a moral power, a power not over the bodies, but over the minds of men, and of 1N Al\IERICA. ll course, it was least felt l y those who yielded to it the most implicit submissinn. Some harsh acts of persecution and pnnishment were occasionally dealt out to such insubordinate persons as were bold enough to think for themselves, or to question the infallible and divine authority of the "standing order." But in general, that veneration which the "ministers" claimed, was spontaneously yielded, and the power thus conferred was judiciou•ly fortified by being shared with such of the laymen as most excelled in shrewdness, ambition, and spiritual gifts. The Revolution, and those questions of constitutional law to which it gave rise, and more yet, those extensive and iniquitous fluctuations of property which the paper money system produced, raised into consequence another body of men, superior to the clergy in active talent; almost their equals in learning; and if they were not regarded witll the same affectionate awe, yet both feared and respected by the people. These were the Lawyers. This new order did not hazard its influence nor waste its strength in a struggle for power, with the clergy. On the contrary, the clergy and the lawyers soon formed an intimate union ; and though these latter were sometimes a Jittle wanting in respect for the theological dogmas, and the anstere morality of their allies, these deficiencies of faith and practice were more than made up for, by tl1e zeal and subtlety with which they defended the I< gal privileges of the clergy, and labored to uphold their iQIIuence and authority. 'l'his double hierarchy of law and divinity, long maintained a predominating influence over the yeomanry of New England. Bred np on their farms in the simplest way, and with a deep reverence for re1i~ gion and the law, a reverence easily and naturally transferred to the clergy and the lawyers; depending upon the pulpit for their weekly supply of knowledge and opinions, or if they read a newspaper,-and American newspapers in those times were but small |